Portable traction device



22, 1961 .1. M. COLLINS 2,997,250

PORTABLE TRACTION DEVICE Filed March 50. 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 n in INVENTOR.

JOSEPH M. LLINS Wu... Z2 flax/41M W ATTORNEYS Aug. 22, 1961 J. M. COLLINS PORTABLE TRACTION DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 50. 1959 INVENTOR. JOSEPH M. CO LINS BY M MA! 604, W

ATTORNEYS United States atent 2,997,250 PORTABLE TRACTION DEVICE Joseph M. Collins, Hickam Village, Honolulu, Hawaii (1453rd AES, APO 953, San Francisco, Calif.) Filed Mar. 30, 1959, Ser. No. 803,035 2 Claims. (Cl. 242107.5) (Granted under Title 35, US. Code (1952), sec. 266) The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the United States Government for governmental purposes without payment to me of any royalty thereon.

This invention relates to an improvement in portable, surgical traction devices and more particularly to an improvement in the traction device which is the subject of my co-pending application, Serial No. 791,782, filed February 6, 1959.

My co-pending application above referred to describes a portable traction device for attachment to simple litters, turning frames or hospital beds, employing spring means for applying traction in place of the commonly used Weights. An embodiment thereof employs a clock spring to supply tension, said spring being wound by a crank acting through a worm gear, and the amount of tension is indicated by a spring scale, graduated in pounds, interposed in the line between the patient and the device.

It is apparent that a compact, simple device which may be easily carried to the scene of an accident or disaster and attached to a simple litter or cot provides a ready means for applying traction to patients requiring it in the field. This is an important function and supplements its use in supplying traction to patients being transported by air, sea or land conveyance and in semipermanent installations such as field hospitals or aid stations. It can also be used to advantage in permanent medical facilities by attachment to hospital beds.

It is a purpose of this invention to provide an improved device for supplying safe, constant and accurate traction to the head, body or limbs of a patient.

It is a further object to provide such a device which is compact, simple and dependable, easy to attach or detach and to use.

It is a further object to provide a traction device which can be used in the field, in hospitals and aid stations as well as in the transport of patients by air, sea or land conveyance.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a safe, quick-release device for securing the traction cable to the point of traction on a patient, such as to standard tongs.

The above and still other objects, advantages and features of my invention will become apparent upon consideration of the following description of one embodiment, especially when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in Which:

FIG. 1 is an isometric view of the invention;

FIG. 2 is an exploded view showing the parts of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a view of an improved, quick-release device for securing a traction cable to a harness.

Essentially this device consists of a clock type spring of a size to exert approximately 25 pounds of pull when fully wound. The mechanism is contained in a case generally designated as 10, and the spring 30 is wound on spring retainer shaft 28 by Worm gear 56 which is fastened to said spring retainer shaft 28 by nut 58 and drift key 54. The said worm gear is meshed with worm 40 journaled in worm gear retainer 52 and is turned by crank 44 through crank handle 46. Spring 30 is assembled to spring retainer shaft 28 by engaging the inner end of said spring in slot 29. The assembled spring and ice retainer shaft are then placed in cable spool 32 with the spring loop 31 opposite the lip 33 of said cable spool and one of the assembly bolts 27 is passed through a hole in front plate spool housing 18, through the said lip 33 and the said loop 31 and secured in a tapped hole in rear spool housing plate 38. The two plates 18' and 38 are firmly fastened together with similar screws 27 and bushing 24 is placed in said plate 18 and one end of said spring retainer shaft 28 is passed through the said bushing and spur gear 16 is made fast to said shaft as by press fitting. A dial scale 12, graduated from 0' to 25 pounds, is made fast to a dial scale gear 14, and the assembled dial and gear are placed over pin 25 on said front plate spool housing 18 so that said gear 14 meshes with spur gear 16 when the zero mark on said dial scale is opposite the engraved arrow on said spool housing when there is no tension on the spring. The other end of shaft 28 is passed through bushings 36, one of which bushings is placed in said plate 38 and the other in a worm gear housing plate 48. The worm gear 56 is keyed to spring retainer shaft 28 by drift key 54 and fastened by nut 58 and meshed with worm 40 which is journaled in worm gear housing 52 and held in place by lock bushing 50. Three screws (not shown) are passed through front assembly ring 20, the spacers 22, worm. gear housing plate 48 and the worm gear housing 52 and secured in outer worm gear housing plate 60. A mounting stud 64 is secured to said outer gear housing plate 60 by screws after inserting bushing 62 in said plate toaccommodate the end of spring retainer shaft 28 should it protrude beyond said plate. Two dowel pins 66 are fitted in said mounting stud 64 so that they may fit into any two of the holes drilled in mounting plate 70'. The said mounting plateis secured to the mounting stud 64 by wing nut 74 and the hex rod assembly bar 68 is passed through the hex hole in said plate 70 and the dowel pins fitted in holes to place the assembled device at a convenient angle. It is clear that turning the worm 40 will revolve gear 56 with which it is meshed and that the spring retainer shaft will revolve with it and increase or decrease tension on the spring through spring retainer shaft 28. This increase or decrease of tension on the spring will be communicated to cable spool 32, which, with spool housings 18 and 38, is free to revolve in said caseand the increase or decrease in tension will be communicated to cable 34 which is attached to said spool. The degree of tension will be indicated on the dial scale 12 in pounds since it is meshed with spur gear 16 and turns with it.

FIG. 3 shows an improved device, generally indicated as 76, for quickly attaching or detaching the cable 34 to or from the point of traction on a patient, as to standard tongs shown in FIG. 2 as 90. The clevis, 78, of any suitable metal, has its upper shaft grooved to allow the entrance of a ball or stop, swaged or otherwise attached to the end of the cable 34 and threaded to receive cable retainer nut 82. The lower end of said clevis is slotted to fit over a connecting link 92 on standard tongs 98, such as Crutchfield tongs, and is drilled and counter bored to receive clevis pin 86 which is held in place by nut 88. The head on said clevis pin 86 is of a size to pass through the hole in the connecting link 92 on said standard tongs, but too large to pass through the slot in a securing slide bar 84, which has a hole drilled in its upper arm to slide freely on said clevis, so that when said slide bar is held down on the clevis by spring the slot in said slide bar engages and holds the said pin in place. To release the clevis from the said tongs it is merely necessary to press the slide bar up against the tension of spring 80 and pull the clevis pin from the connecting link 92. This improved attachment is permanent- 1y fastened to the traction cable and forms a part of the improved traction device.

It is clear from the description and drawings that this device fulfills all the objectives set for it. In a compact, readily transported unit is supplies steady, safe traction which can be applied in the field, in aid stations or permanent hospitals. Its use, in conjunction with the attachrnent device which is the subject of my co-pending application referred to above, is ideal for use on accident victims Where immediate traction may be required to prevent undue complications to certain types of suspected injuries while being handled and transported from the scene of an accident to a medical treatment facility. This is, perhaps, the most important feature of this ingrating of the ends of fractured bones thus preventing rupturing of blood vessels and the severing of nerves, especially of the spinal column.

It is to be understood that the above described arrangement is merely illustrative of the application of the principles of the invention. Numerous other arrangements may be devised by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What I claim as new is:

1. In a surgical traction device a clock spring mounted in a housing, a shaft attached to one end of said spring, a spool attached to the other end of said spring, a spool plate attached to said spool, said shaft and said spool and spool plate being free to revolve in said housing,

means for turning said shaft, said means for turning said shaft comprising a worm gear contained in said housing, said Worm gear being keyed to said shaft to put tension on said spring to turn said spool, a cable attached to said spool, a dial scale geared to said shaft and journaled on said spool plate, a pointer on said spool plate to cooperate with said dial scale to register the tension placed on said cable.

2. In a surgical traction device a clock spring mounted in a housing, a shaft attached to one end of said spring, a spool with an end plate attached to the other end of said spring, said shaft and said spool being free to revolve in said housing, means for turning said shaft, said means for turning said shaft comprising a worm gear contained in said housing, said worm gear being keyed to said shaft to put tension on said spring to turn said spool, a cable attached to said spool, a dial scale, said dial scale being journalled for rotation on the outside of said end plate, a gear fastened to said dial scale, a second gear keyed to said shaft and in meshing engagement with said firstrnentioned gear, a pointer fixed on said end plate to cooperate with said dial to register the tension placed on said cable.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

